1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector that electrically and mechanically connects a pair of conductors in an end to end orientation wherein the bared ends conductors are crimped within a crimp barrel and wherein the crimp barrel is disposed within a heat shrinkable sleeve wherein the sleeve and its inner adhesive layer are crystal clear, in particular transparent, essentially see-through.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Crimping two electrical conductors in end to end orientation is well known in the art. Typically, the bared ends of the two (or more) conductors are brought into an end to end orientation within a malleable and electrically conductive crimp barrel and, using a crimping tool, the crimp barrel is crimped on either side of the center of the barrel in order to assure that each conductor is crimped within the barrel. If performed properly, the crimping of the two conductors produces a solid electrical and mechanical connection of the conductors. Oftentimes, a less than ideal crimp is performed. For example, if one of the conductors is stripped too short, the crimp is performed on the end of that conductor resulting in poor termination. If one or both of the conductors are not fully inserted within the crimp barrel the result is also poor termination. To compound the problem, the only quality control test that many technicians perform on the connected conductors is to pull on the two conductors after they are crimped together. This is due to the fact that the crimp barrel is solid and there is no realistic method to see the results from the crimp that has been performed. In many instances, a poor crimp withstands this single tensile test only to fail later, possibly at a critical time in the field.
In one of my previous patents, U.S. Pat. No. 7,256,348 issued on Aug. 14, 2007, I addressed the issue by providing an opening on either side of the central stop that allows a technician to see the conductors both before and after the crimp is performed. These openings allow for visual inspection of the crimp.
However, a problem remains in that the crimp barrel is held within a heat shrinkable sleeve which sleeve has a layer of a heat activated adhesive on its inner surface. After the crimp is performed, the sleeve is subject to heat in order to activate the adhesive and also allow the sleeve to heat shrink onto the barrel. The sleeve, coupled with the adhesive, provide an essentially watertight insulative cover for the connection. The problem with the heat shrinkable sleeve system is that the sleeve is tinted for various reasons, such as to assure that the proper gauge of wire is used with the particular crimp connector. The tinting, coupled with the adhesive layer, especially after heat activation, tends to cloud up or haze the sleeve so that a visual inspection of the final crimped product is still difficult, resulting in many poor crimping connections not being caught during a quality control inspection. Even sleeves that are colorless tend to make visual inspection of the crimp difficult due to the cloudiness of the sleeves and adhesive.
What is needed is a crimp connector that joins two (or more) electrical conductors in end to end fashion with the use of a heat shrinkable insulating sleeve wherein the crimp portion of the connection process can be clearly and easily inspected visually both before or after the heat shrinking of the sleeve.